Brassiere.



A. BENJAMIN.

BBASSITERE.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1, 1908. 948,642.

Patented F6b..8, 1910. zsnnnws-snnnw 1.

WITNE88E8: 4

' IIWENTOR Q I & I I

ATTORAEYS H A. BENJAMIN.

Patented Feb. 8,- 1910.

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m w m WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT one on.

ALFRED BENJAMIN, OF NEWARK, NEW. JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO BENJAMIN & J OHNES, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

BRIASsIERE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1910.

Application filed June 1, 1908. Serial No. 436,108.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED BENJAMIN, of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Brassieres, and do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

The object of my invention has been to provide an improvement in garments, and particularl in brassieres or bust confiners, which shall have among others the following advantages: That it shall be so constructed that the diagonal crossing of the front flaps shall be concealed, and especially that such crossing shall be concealed by a part or parts having a shall have a convenient fastening for the front lower edges to a corset, and particularly such a fastening that is ad ustabIe, both for tension and for varying waist measure; and to such ends my invention Eonsists in the brassiere hereinafter speci- In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a form provided with a corset, and with a brassiere embodying m invention; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, with the blouse flaps loosened to show the brassiere body flaps; Fig. 3 is a View showing the blouse flaps raised to show the brassiere body as a whole;.and Fig. 4: is

a view showing both the blouse flaps and the brassiere flaps loosened to show the details of construction.

The brassiere, or bust confiner, is a garment worn over the bust and over the corset for the purpose of confining a too fleshy bust. It is desirable to have such a garment fit tightly, and especially to have it pull downward so as to exert a pressure upon the bust. My invention provides an eflicient means for producing such a downward pull.

A brassiere is necessarily tight-fitting, and therefore not very attractive in appearance. In order to draw the brassiere tight around the body, it is provided with flaps in front which cross diagonally and are drawn tight by cords or bands fastened thereto and tied around the waist. These cross flaps are not attractive in appearance, and my invention provides for concealing such flaps by an ornamental art. Such part may be comparatively tight-fitting, but, as I refer, .it may be loose to produce what is rnown as the blouse effect.

blouse eifect.= That it among others the followin While my invention is capable of embodiment in many different forms, I have chosen to illustrate it by the arrangement illustrated in the drawings. In the said drawings the corset 10 may be of any desired construction, and it will usually have a fastening'at the front consisting of steels inclosed in the fabric of the corset, one steel having the studs 11 projecting therefrom, and the other steel the plates or eyes 12.

The brassiere consists of a body 13, which may have straps 14 passing over the shoulders. The body is open at the front, and is fastened together at the top of such opening in any desired manner, as by buttons 15 on one side, and loops 16 on the opposite side, which loops may be either elastic or inelastic. The brassiere body preferably has flaps l7 and 18 along the front at each side of the opening .and said flaps are provided.

with strings 19 and 20, which upon being wrapped around the waist overlapthe flaps,

4 and permit the body to be drawn tightly around the waist. The strings, also, to some extent, produce a downward pull and tend to bring pressure upon the bust. On

the bottom of each flap is a strap 21, the 7 lower end of one strap having a plate 22, and the lower end of the other strap having a hook 23. The plate 22 has a key-hole or slot 24, by which it can be engaged over one of the corset studs. It also has a slot 25 by which it can be engaged by the said hook.

I The straps are preferably provided with slides 26 by which their lengths can be adjusted.

To produce the blouse effect, blouse pieces 27 and 28 are sewed to the upper portion of the brassiere, preferably about the line of the top of the corset, such blouse portions being gathered in the usual manner of making blouses. Along the lower edge of each blouse piece and on the inside thereof, a

strap 30 is-sewed, such strap being .preferably attached only at intervals, so that loops areformed thereby. Before the straps 21 are fastened down, they are passed through the said loops,'and thus fastening the key-hole plate to the corset stud not only fastens down the body of the brassiere, but also fastens down the blouse portions.

It will be observed that my brassiere has 6. advantages: A downward pull is produced on'the body of the brassiere, bringing pressure to bear upon the bust, and this pull can be regulated in degree by adjusting the lengths of the straps 21 by means of their slides. The said straps not only pull down on the brassiere but tend to draw it tighter around the waist by drawing the two lower corners toward each other. The fastening for the straps is light and compact, and is flexible enough to permit of desirable movement. The brassiere fits just as tightlyand produces just as much pressure as if it had no blouse efiect, and yet the attractive appearance of the blouse effect is produced. The series of loops on the lower edges of the blouse portions permits the same garmentto be worn by women of different waist measure, and yet permits the blouse ortions to be adjusted to precisely the desired osition by putting the straps through the 00p occupying the proper relation thereto.

It is obvious that various changes can be made in the above illustrated construction which will be within the spirit of my invention and I desire not to be limited beyond the necessary intendment of my claims and the requirements of the prior art.

I claim:

1. A brassiere comprising a body adapted to fit tightly over the bust and around the Waist, and having an opening at the front, blouse ieces fastened to said body at each side of said opening, along substantially horizontal lines, substantially at or above the level of the corset, and means for confining the lower ends of the blouse pieces, whereby said blouse pieces may be fastened together at their upper edges by the fastening of the edges of said body together.

2. A brasslere, comprising a body adapted to fit tightly over the bust and around the waist, and having an opening at the front, blouse pieces fastened to said body, one on each side of said opening, said blouse pieces being fastened to the body along substantially horizontal lines near the top of said blouse pieces, and being secured to the body near their lower ends on the same side of said opening, whereby said blouse pieces are put in the position which they occupy when worn, by the mere fastening of the body together.

' 3. A brassire, comprising a body adapted to fit tightly over the bust and around the Waist, a strap fastened to the front of said brassiere at the bottom, means for fastening said strap to the corset, a blouse piece fastened at its upper edge to said body, and means for engaging the lower edge of said blouse piece with said strap.

4. A brassiere, comprising a body adapted to fit tightly over the bust and around the waist; and having an opening at the front, straps which are fastened to the lower edge of the body, one at. each side of said opening, means carried by said straps for engaging a corset, blouse pieces fastened to said body at their upper edges, and a plurality of loops carried by said blouse pieces at their lower edges.

5. A brassiere, comprising a body adapted to fit tightly over the bust and around the waist, and having an opening at the front, a strap fastened to the lower edge of said body at one side of said opening, means on said strap for engaging a corset, a strap fastened to the lower edge of said body at the other side of said opening, and means on said strap for-engaging said means for engaging the corset, whereby said straps may be fastened together, and may engage with the corset by a single fastening.

6. A brassire, comprising a body adapted to fit tightly over the bust and around the waist, and having an opening at the front, a strap fastened to'the lower edge ofsaid body at one side of said opening, means on said strap for engaging a corset, a strap fastened to the lower edge of said body at the other side of said opening, means on said strap for engaging said means for engaging the corset, whereby said straps may be fastened together and may engage with the corset by a single fastening, blouse pieces fastened to said brassiere at their upper edges at each side of the opening, and a loop on the lower edge of each of said blouse pieces for engaging said straps. 7 The combination with a garment having a vertical opening therein, of straps fastened substantially at the lower corners of said garment, a clasp on one of said straps adapted to engage a fastening on an undergarment, and a part on the other of said straps adapted to engage said clasp.

8. A brassiere, comprising a body adapted to fit tightly over the bust and around the Waist, said body being open at the front, and having flaps at the front adapted to overlap each other, strings fastened to the free edges of said flaps at the waist line, a strap fastened to the loweredge of the body at the opening, a clasp on the lower end of said strap, said clasp comprising a plate having an upper slot and an under keyhole slot, a second strap attached to said body on the opposite side of said opening, a

hook carried by said strap and adapted to engage said first-mentioned slot, and slides on saidstraps for adjusting their lengths.

In testimonythat I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

ALFRED BENJAMIN.

Witnesses:

ARIEL B. SANDLASS, .FRANK BENJAMIN. 

